My almost 13-hour long road trip to Vrindavan, even as cow-related violence continued to hog national headlines, a Krishna-bhakt destitute widow in Vrindavan donated Rs 61 lakhs for the welfare of the bovine animal, which is believed to be the Lord Krishna’s favourite and most revered by Hindus.
Yashoda Dasi, a 70-year-old destitute widow has become a living inspiration for hundreds who are keen for the protection of the bovine. Not many knew how what hardships Yashoda faced saving this money in the last 40 years to realise her dream.
A resident of a well-to-do family in Katni district in Madhya Pradesh...

The sea bed under the deep blue waters around peninsular India is home to more than 10,000 million tonnes of rich minerals and this treasure trove falls very much within the Exclusive Economic Zone(EEZ) of the country, geologists have revealed.
Having generated 181,025 sq km of high-resolution seabed morphological data over a period of three years, scientists at the Geological Survey of India(GSI) who conducted an intensive and thorough exploration and study of the complete data, have concluded that EEZ of India is rich with high value marine mineral resources that could benefit every stakeholder in the mining and geology...

It was a cloudy Sunday afternoon when a steady drizzle tapped on the roof, and like some other over-worked Delhi’ites, all I wanted to do was gorge on a plateful of pakoras and then snore to sleep. But such plans were of no avail. A long pending meeting forced me to travel down to the southern part of the city. Surprisingly, and thankfully, the dismal beginning to my Sunday slowly slipped into a memorable day, and a happy adventure. It was an amazing date with the exquisite art form that is as ancient as it is contemporary.
In 2016 last year, a two-month long festival of Graffiti, that includes wall art, murals, and...

Two brothers in Rohtak district of Haryana have decided to marry the same girl. At Bibipur in Sonepath district close to Delhi, there is an acute scarcity of girls who could be married off to boys. These are not figments of imagination but facts.
Looking at current trends of falling sex ratio, and anticipating a similar scenario in West Bengal in the near future, the health and education departments have decided to include this highly vexing issue in school curriculum. Because students are the future parents.
Blame it on the traditional psychology of the average Indian couple, birth of a girl in a family is h...

The Assam government has made a case for a special financial package from the Centre for strengthening the network of embankments in the State as a safeguard against floods. Last week, a delegation of BJP MPs from Assam led by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his Parliament House office and discussed several issues concerning the State.
The delegation which included Ramen Deka, RP Sharma, Bijoya Chakravarty, Kamakhya Prasad Tasa, Rameswar Teli and Pradan Baruah also urged the Prime Minister to depute a high-level Central team to assess the damages caused by floods and erosion in the state. The Prime Minister has sought details...

Before you take a plunge, know this: There is unquestionably some amount of urine in the swimming pool. In any case, it’s most likely not that much. Around 1 of every 5 individuals have confessed to urinating in a swimming pool at any given time, as indicated by a 2012 overview. In case you’re asking Olympic swimmers, well, that rate is considerably higher: about 100 percent, said Carly Geehr, a previous individual from the U.S. National Swim Team. The American Chemical Society (ACS) evaluates that there are somewhere close to 30 millilitres and 80 mL (1 to 3 ounces) of urine per individual in a pool. Furthermore, one investigation from 1997 assessed a sum in the ...

In October 1947, soon after India became independent, Pakistani troops had reached the borders of Kashmir. All the efforts of political leaders had failed. Time was ticking. In these conditions, Sardar Patel sent a message to the chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), MS Golwalker, requesting him to use his influence to prevail upon the Maharaja to accede to India. ‘Guruji’, as he was fondly called, cancelled all engagements and rushed to Srinagar from Nagpur to resolve the delicate matter.
A meeting between Guruji and Maharaja Hari Singh was arranged. This historic meeting on the issue of national honour ended successfully, after which the Maharaja...

The Rath Yatra is just over. Kumartuli, the famous colony of clay image makers of Calcutta, sports an image of the humdrum and the mundane from a distance. A peep inside the dingy lanes, however, would immediately correct one’s erroneous assumption. The celestial colony is far from quiet; the buzz of activities could be heard from almost all the makeshift chalas (structures that are the backdrops of the idols). The master iconographers alias clay modellers are back in action. For, the Durga Pujas, the four days of unrivaled revelry, are barely two and a half months away; the images that are likely to be on the pedestal, have...

Even as the Narendra Modi government has announced to make the state open defecation free (OFD) by 2018, there is an urgent need to address the requirement of some communities and villages that need toilets more than others.
According to government expenditure data, the centre had spent 89% of its annual budget by early January. Importantly, the measure of success has moved from the mere construction of toilets to achieving “open defecation free” (ODF) status and village after village have been busy trying to meet this goal.
Between April 2016 and January 2017, the total number of villages t...

Assam government has firmed up a plan with the Centre for organising a mega international event – Textiles India 2017 – with the goal to take Indian textiles to the global arena. The event will showcase India’s strength in the textile sector.
The textiles fair will be held from June 30 to July 2, 2017 at Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat and is expected to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Assam, as one of the two partner States for the event, will promote the state’s indigenous silk products - eri and muga (golden silk) apart from a range of other handloom and handicraft ...

Born in Pali in Patna district, Aslam Parvez is known as ‘Perfume Man of Bihar’. However, Aslam, who has studied only till Matriculation, is not able to believe it to be true. Today he does not need any introduction. It is not just Parvez’s personal success and fame but a whole new world, an entire society, which has achieved a lot, only due to his efforts. Parvez is now an example to be followed....
In the area of Bihar, where Naxalites have a sway, militancy has become a habit through which everyone tries to grab a slice of power and clout. Parvez was no different. He too wanted to join a Naxalite orga...

For the average person who can see, it is difficult to think like a visually challenged person. That is the exact challenge that confronted Swagat Thorat – journalist-turned-theatre personality-cum wild life photographer and documentary filmmaker.
But above all, Thorat is better known as the Braille man of India – when he wanted to launch India’s first Braille magazine. The first issue of ‘Sparshgandhya’ periodical, published in Marathi, came out in 1998.for-their-eyes-only-1
It all started in 1993 when Thorat was working on a documentary film project on two blind schools in the western ...